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disneydream06Forget the police state I mentioned the other day. We apparently have become a dictatorship taking lessons from Quddafiy.
A deputy attorney general in Indiana on Saturday suggested on Twitter to "use live ammunition" against protesters in Madison, Wisconsin. In a back-and-forth with a writer for Mother Jones magazine, he followed up, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force."
There's one word for this: Unacceptable.
The fact that a public official is comfortable calling for the shooting of peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's not surprising since the political Right has moved so far away from supporting democratic norms.
The right-wing movement -- from its politicians to its media outlets -- has taken sides against the working people of Wisconsin and is trying to paint peaceful protesters and unions as "thugs." In doing so, they are aligning themselves with some of American history's worst villains -- the politicians and robber barons of the late 1800's and early 1900s who would call in private security firms and militias to break union strikes and intimidate workers with outright violence, and sometimes mass murder.
We remember the violent actions and rhetoric of some of the Tea Party congressional candidates in 2010 -- Sharron Angle with her "Second Amendment remedies," Joe Miller with his private security guards who roughed up and illegally detained a reporter. Now we're faced with public officials who are falsely trying to portray public workers who are under attack and their supporters as violent ... and advocating real violence against them just for standing up for their basic rights!
A deputy attorney general in Indiana on Saturday suggested on Twitter to "use live ammunition" against protesters in Madison, Wisconsin. In a back-and-forth with a writer for Mother Jones magazine, he followed up, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force."
There's one word for this: Unacceptable.
The fact that a public official is comfortable calling for the shooting of peaceful protesters exercising their First Amendment rights is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's not surprising since the political Right has moved so far away from supporting democratic norms.
The right-wing movement -- from its politicians to its media outlets -- has taken sides against the working people of Wisconsin and is trying to paint peaceful protesters and unions as "thugs." In doing so, they are aligning themselves with some of American history's worst villains -- the politicians and robber barons of the late 1800's and early 1900s who would call in private security firms and militias to break union strikes and intimidate workers with outright violence, and sometimes mass murder.
We remember the violent actions and rhetoric of some of the Tea Party congressional candidates in 2010 -- Sharron Angle with her "Second Amendment remedies," Joe Miller with his private security guards who roughed up and illegally detained a reporter. Now we're faced with public officials who are falsely trying to portray public workers who are under attack and their supporters as violent ... and advocating real violence against them just for standing up for their basic rights!
no subject
Date: 2011-02-24 08:32 am (UTC)Excuse me while I try to hold down my lunch. LOL......
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Date: 2011-02-24 02:14 pm (UTC)NC has been a holdout in the deep south as far as NOT having a traditional marriage definition as a part of out state laws, I think. With the new (very right wing) Republican majority, this time the amendment proposal will definitely be debated in the legislature. What about real problems like unemployment and the recession? Those must wait while 'God's work' is done...
Durham's own nationally recognised GLBT blogger Pam's House Blend has more:
http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/18719/game-on-in-nc-marriage-amendment-bill-filed-in-state-senate-would-put-it-on-2012-ballot
no subject
Date: 2011-02-24 02:19 pm (UTC)